Forbes List of Richest Self-Made Women has 17 Billionaires

Forbes released their 2015 list of the top 50 self-made richest women in America, and it includes 17 Billionaires who got to that stage all by themselves.

What's more, the woman who leads the list, aside from being almost a billion dollars ahead of her closest competitor, is also the youngest on the list. We're talking about Elizabeth Holmes who is sitting on top of a $4.5 Billion fortune that she had no help in raising. She has been in the news a lot for having done all that in merely the third decade of her life. She founded the blood testing company Theranos when she was only 19, and her company is now valued at $9 billion.

She is $0.8 Billion ahead of Diane Hendricks, who, at $3.6 Billion, ranked second. She is the owner and chairman of ABC Supply, a wholesale distributor of roofing, window and siding materials, based in Beloit, Wisconsin.

The list has been rounded after calculating a prospects total net worth through their total assets, holdings in public companies- based on stock prices on May 15, and a thorough background check on whether their fortunes were raised independently. The

The range and diversity of the list, right from professions to ages, to ethnicity and backgrounds - is perhaps what makes America the land of (everyone's) dreams. The top 17, who are the self-made billionaire women of America are techies as well as entertainers, like Sheryl Sandberg, the world's favorite spokesperson for women leadership who, as Facebook COO has amassed $1.1 Billion through her hard work- or Oprah Winfrey, the Queen of the Media as an anchor and philanthropist, who is the protagonist of a tumultuous rags to riches story and has earned herself $3 Billion and the number 5 spot on this list.

Some on the list are only just starting out - like Holmes, while legends like the 83 year old co-founder of Gap Doris Fisher, who is living out their golden years after having made herself worth $3 Billion.

Number 13 through 15 is a classic showcase of how the American dream is also for its worldwide immigrants. Peggy Cherng, Neerja Sethi and Thai Lee of Indian and Asian origins, and made one to one and a half billion dollars through their business ventures.

The other noted names that made it to this Ebay's Meg Whitman at number 10 with a $2 Billion fortune. This list also extends to the top 50 richest self made women and concludes with queen bee of American music Beyonce Knowles and her earnings of $250 M at number 50.

Image Courtesy: Forbes